When the Wind Returns
by peanutbutterthedog
Summary: 150 years after the bleach story line. Byakuya had a wife and now he mourns over her death. But with two twin boys that she left with him, how does he continue to go on?
1. Mourning

Prologue

The rain hit heavily onto the pavement, crashing downward through the wet air until plopping heavily onto the ground. It was a depressing sort of rain; a rain that made you sad no matter what kind of day it had been. And, it was also very calming, in a strange sort of way. It was a rain that told you peace would eventually come and everything would be revealed soon enough. But as you stood there, you didn't really understand any of these feelings. You felt them of course, yet you didn't let them come inside to take over your heart. You didn't want to remember me. You always do this too. Why must you lock your heart up like this? What about Kai and Soujun? They need you to be there. They need a father. I'm sorry I cannot be there to slap some sense into you, but this is no excuse. Think about me for a moment. Just let the thought of me slip into soul once more and listen to what I have to say. What would I have wanted, if I were alive? What would I have done in your shoes? Whatever the case, what you've done, isn't it. Remember who you are. Aren't you the 28th head of the Kuchiki family? Aren't you the great Captain of the 6th division? Aren't you the one who defied your own family for me? It's time to realize that today; you need to be Byakuya Kuchiki.

Jerking up into a sitting position, he took in long deep breaths; in…out…in…out. That was what he forced himself to think about. That was all he could think about. 'I can't go through this every year,' He couldn't think clearly, not with these thoughts. Rising, he made his way into the bathroom. 'Every year… every year…' He pulled his long black hair out of his face and into a loose ponytail. His eyes drifted to the mirror and he noticed his appearance. He looked pale, too pale. 'Why must she plague my thoughts as she does? She doesn't even have to be alive to do it. Damn.' He cooled his face with some water, before leaning onto the counter. Slowing down his breathing was a bit of a challenge, but nothing the noble couldn't handle. On this night, every year, she would come back to life in his dreams. Most of what she told him he already knew and thought about daily, yet that was one of the things Jai had been good at, reminding him of things he didn't want to remember, or at least didn't think he could handle. One of which being herself. This had been the night that she had died one hundred and fifty years ago.

Chapter 1

Huff... huff… huff…

This continued on for a while. The boy clenched his teeth together. 'I have to do better. I will be better than that old man!' So he swung the practice sword in a downward motion yet again, and again, and again. His arms burned of exhaustion, but he wouldn't quit, not yet anyway. Like any teen of his age, he had a goal. His goal was of utmost importance to him; it was what he lived for. His short white hair, usually spiked upward started to droop with the increased sweat that was amounting upon his brow, upper arms, and hell, even in places he wouldn't have openly liked to admit. The number of breaths it took to recover from a single swing was increasing rapidly. 'Come on.' He continued to tell himself. 'Ones who try hard will succeed proudly!' That, was his motto. He lived by that.

"Nee-san…" The voice echoed across the yard, filling the boy's ears with its familiar sound. "Nee-san!" The voice tried again. The boy openly ignored it. "You're going to pass out again, Nee-san!" The voice became desperate. "Remember what Oto-sama did the last time you over-worked yourself?"

"Urusai, Soujun!" The boy stopped his swinging and sent a glare, his brother's way. "I don't care what that old man says! I will do I want to!" And so he continued with his training.

Soujun sighed. He sank down to the wood of the porch and his head fell to his knees. "Oh Nee-san…" He whispered quietly to himself. "Why must you strive to be so much better than Oto-sama?" He fingered the badge on his left arm. "I want to be strong too, but working yourself to death won't help you Nee-san…" Soujun knew his brother couldn't hear him, yet he liked to reassure himself that he was right. And as if to prove his point, Kai then dropped to the ground. "Ah! Nee-san!" Soujun ran out into the yard and struggled to lift his brother onto his shoulders. He never was very strong. Halfway back to the porch, Soujun noticed a cold gaze fix onto him and his brother. His eyes met an opposing pair of deep gray ones. "Oto-sama…"

The man stayed still a moment before snapping his fingers. A maid bowed before him. "What can I do for you, Kuchiki-sama?"

"Take Kai to his room. Have him wash when he wakes."

"Of course, Kuchiki-sama." And so the maid hurried off to do as she had been told. Soujun stumbled from the weight that was soon removed from his shoulders, then he turned up to face his father.

"Gomenasai, Oto-sama, I couldn't stop him." From there he hesitated, unlike his brother, he truly respected his father. He wouldn't dare say anything that could offend him. Leaning his head forward, his dark hair fell into his face.

"It is not of your fault, Soujun. If he chooses to disrespect what his body needs, then so be it." The tall man was unearthly angry inside, in truth. Yet he would not admit this fault to anyone. Even so the anger boiled up. He was so much like her too, Jai that was. He looked like her with those cobalt blue eyes, unlike any he'd seen before. And that stark white hair! With a combination like that, attention was sure to be attracted. Oh, and believe it did. He was sarcastic and outgoing as she was too. The only noticeable difference was that temper. That couldn't have come from her. There was only one place that could've come from, yet he was almost too loathe to admit it.

Soujun shuffled his feet next to him awkwardly. That boy was uncomfortable under pressure. He wasn't like Jai at all. The complete opposite actually. Soujun was much more like him, or his father maybe. He tried his hardest to keep those emotions in check, emphasis on 'tried'. Well, at least he tried, much unlike that brother of his. Soujun took the responsibility that came with being born a noble. Jai had done well to name him after his deceased grandfather. They were much alike.

Now of all times to think such thoughts; Byakuya mentally scolded himself. The pain had already begun to seep its way up through the cracks in his soul. His quickly covered the gaps with a bit of mental glue. He knew it wouldn't hold and that he would have to eventually patch it up again, but for now he didn't want those thoughts to stop him from what was important here and now.

"Oto-sama?" Soujun's words snapped him from his thoughts. He let his eyes fall to those similar to his own. "Do you think that… maybe you could…"

"Don't stutter. Speak clearly."

"Gomenasai, Oto-sama. I was merely wondering if you could help me perfect my Kido." His eyes looked up hopeful.

"I'm too busy, today. Dinner will be in an hour as well. You should go and clean yourself up." His eyes droped from his father's momentarily before getting himself together.

"Of course, Oto-sama." As the boy walked off, Byakuya thought of his actions. Jai wouldn't have approved. She most likely would have hit him atop the head with that annoying fan that she carried around. Wouldn't even unfold it. Damn that Urahara, Kisuke. Turning on his heel, he headed towards his quarters. He might just go to bed early tonight, sleep hadn't been easy lately. Thoughts of his late wife were all that he could think about. It was always like this, a few days every year. And he wasn't the only one that grieved her death, many of the other soul reapers, like Motsumuto, Rangiku, who was unusually silent on the days surrounding her death. Also her former lieutenant failed to play the correct notes on his guitar behind the squad nine barracks. But of course, Byakuya took it the hardest. His squad had figured out by now that this time of year was a bad time to make mistakes. For the special few that had been in his squad over a hundred and fifty years, they respected that the great noble captain for the fact that once in his life he showed a bit of emotion. It showed them how he truly did love someone, as the rest of his squad wasn't sure why their captain was unusually angry.

But not everyone was mourning over her death. A small Kuchiki with her vibrant dark blue eyes was happy that her brother's late wife was gone. Rukia never liked Jai. Not one bit. She thought the woman was too energetic. She was wild and the complete opposite of what a noble should be. And for some odd reason something about her appearance irked her. Maybe it was the stark white hair or maybe the bright, cobalt blue eyes. Maybe it was the fact that she had a figure most women would die for, but then again she still was unsure. Jai had been nice enough to her but somehow it had rubbed her the wrong way. In Rukia's mind, her brother didn't need someone so crazy and so disrespectful. That woman had ruined the Kuchiki family name.

So every year Rukia reminded herself of this and that included this year. As she made her way down the long hallway towards the dining room she reminded herself that this is why she was a good noble; because she didn't act upon her emotions and did only as her brother had taught her to. Pulling open the door, she found Soujun sitting quietly at the table and Kai fast asleep on the floor. Soujun nodded a polite greeting. Kai just rolled over to face away from her. She scowled. 'Misbehaving at this time of year? Must he be so arrogant?'

Because Kai was so much like his mother, he made Rukia angry too and for good reason. She walked slowly around the table, stalking her prey. Soujun, knowing what she was going to do looked around nervously. After all, he tended to be the peace keeper in the household.

"Rukia Oba-san…"

"Shh, Soujun. Be quiet a minute."

"But…"

"But nothing, I don't want to hear it."

Rukia filled a cup with hot tea and crept closer silently. Then when she got close enough she poured the steaming hot liquid over his head. He sat up immediately and yelled out in pain.

"Ahhh! Rukia!" He was literally fuming with anger. He hated Rukia. He had no idea why she hated him so much yet because she did, it was in his nature to come back with even more hatred. He was always trying to get her back for what she did to him. And nine out of ten times he succeeded. Rukia on the other hand was lucky to get a chance to give Kai a taste of his own medicine. But when she did, such as in this very instant, victory was sweet.

"I don't believe that was necessary, Rukia." And that ladies and gentlemen, is the reason Rukia had so much trouble returning the favor to Kai.

"Oto-sama…" Soujun stuttered. He never had a reason to be afraid of his father; Soujun was the best behaved child you'd ever seen. He never disrespected anyone and always did as he was told. Yet he still feared for his twin brother or for Rukia or, for that matter anyone that did anything that they shouldn't have and was to be punished.

"Gomenasai, Byakuya Nee-sama, I was only… well…"

"Whatever the reason, it should not have been great enough to punish him so." Kai smirked in victory. This was the one time every year, his father would stand on his side. He didn't know the reason, he didn't know the reason for a lot of things that happened actually, but he thoroughly took advantage of the situation.

"Yeah, Rukia. I didn't do nothing wrong, and yet you come waltzing in here to dump hot tea on me. Soujun didn't see any problem with what I was doing."

Rukia turned away from Kai. Normally, her older brother would stay out of conversations such as these. But this was the time of year he was mourning over Jai's death. And that meant he would take pity on Kai, although she wouldn't ever believe he had deserved it. She would never hate her older brother and always wished for his happiness, but at times she wished Jai had never been a part of his life.

Kai watched her walk around to the other side of the table a wide grin still consuming the majority of his face. He should be tired, especially after training so hard just a few hours ago but this small incident had given him some needed energy. He slid a hand through his wet hair shaking some of the tea out of his hair, much like a dog, as his father would put it. He knew he would probably have to wash his hair at least 5 times to get it back to its previous perfect shade of white. But for now, that didn't matter. He didn't need to dwell on such trivial matters with this victory on hand. And so they all proceeded to enjoy dinner.

Yet none had a clue that they, along with the rest of the soul society were being watched.

"What's the report?" The young man tilted his eyes up to meet mine.

"The soul reapers still suspect nothing, Captain. Yet the Hell Gate is hardly holding up."

"How long do we have?"

"Not long, Captain. Myabe a week if we're lucky."

I turned back, walking across the room. "Very well, I will inform the other Captains. I want you all to work on coming up with a precise date for when the Hell Gate will fail. Understood?"

"Understood, Captain!" The reply was echoed across the room. I smiled. It would be good to see the soul reapers again.


	2. Getting Ready

Hi peoples! Here's a new chapter for you!

* * *

Chapter 2

Settling into the chair at his desk, Byakuya sighed. So much damn paperwork. It littered his desk, in a neat way that only a noble's desk could achieve; but even so there was quite a lot. There were piles on the table across the room; his twin sons usually worked on their share of paper work sitting on the couch opposite of it. There were piles on the floor in front of his desk; _that,_ he wasn't proud of. There was even more that would be coming; he officially had a headache. Yet even so, he sat and began to dig his way through the giant pile.

Sometime later, maybe an hour or so, Kai finally managed to make his way into the room. He ignored the paperwork and fell straight onto the couch in a heap. Byakuya frowned slightly. Soujun walked in behind him and looked at his now sleeping form on the couch.

"Gomenasai, Oto-sama. Nee-san is a bit tired. He stayed up training again." Soujun didn't wait for an answer from his father, nor did he want one. The soft snoring his brother made, calmed him. He could wake his brother, but he knew all Kai would do was complain. Soujun was used to doing not only his own, but his brother's share of the paperwork. And he'd learned that his father didn't mind as long as the paperwork got finished. Besides, he liked to listen to the soft sound of his brother sleeping.

Kai on the other hand awoke to find himself in his inner world. The sound of waves crashing onto the rocks on the other side of the grassy hill where he lay, was nice. A shifting in the corner of his eye made him turn. Midori was lying on her stomach with her face in her hands. His zanpakuto.

"Is something bothering you master? You seem disturbed by something." Her long pink hair blew slightly in the wind. Her deep green eyes focused on the young man in front of her.

"I suppose so." He laid back, folding his hands under his head.

"What kind of answer is that? You _suppose_ something is bothering you?" She shook her head. "What does that even mean? It's a yes or no question!" Kai only furrowed his eye brows together at her comment. "You know," her voice softening, "masters are supposed to tell their zanpakuto everything."

"Gomen, Midori, I've been preoccupied lately. It's just that I've been having these weird dreams."

"About what?"

"This woman. She looks like me and I see her talking to dad, and it's just weird. Who do you think she is?"

"She looks like you?"

"Yeah she has my eyes and my hair color." Kai turned and peered at his zanpakuto. "Do you think that could be my mother?"

"Maybe. Though it would have to be a past vision. She died in battle right?"

"That's what Rukia said. And Rangiku confirmed it when I asked her. She was pretty hot; didn't look like much of a fighter though. Bet that was the first real fight she got into anyway."

"Kai!" Kai looked over surprised by her outburst. She didn't usually call him by his first name. "Ah… gomen master. Though you shouldn't talk bad about your mother. You didn't even know her."

Kai stood and clenched his fists at his side. "Even you…" He muttered under his breath. "I thought you were the only person that wouldn't tell me what to do and now here you go off yelling at me telling me I'm wrong! I don't care about my mother! If she really was a good person she wouldn't have died! She would be here! So don't tell me what to do!" He clenched his teeth together. He didn't understand why everyone expected him to be like her, because he wasn't. They wanted him to be amazingly strong, amazingly happy go lucky and he couldn't be! Why did she have to leave him here to take over her life?

Meanwhile I stood, slightly confused, but mostly disturbed, at the foot of my best friend's bed. He was sprawled across the top, half the covers were on the floor and half on the bed, yet none managed to stay on him. He also happened, well it was probably on purpose, to be in only his underwear. My eyebrows furrowed together. I always had to be the one to wake him didn't I? He still continued to snore, with an arm and a leg hanging off the bed, completely oblivious to the fact I was in his room. I wanted to flip the mattress, but knowing I would probably get scolded, I did the next best thing.

"ICHIMARU, GIN!"

He fell off the bed in an instant, right onto his face. He immediately jumped up and scanned the room until his eyes locked on mine. Sighing he fell back onto the bed. "Oh, it's jus' you." He folded his hands behind his head. "But did'ya hav'ta yell?"

"I could've left you here, and went on to the Soul Society without you."

His grin grew larger. "Ya wouldn't, Jai-chan. If ya were gonna leave, ya would've already left." He was right of course. If I hadn't wanted him to come, I wouldn't have woken him. So I just smiled.

"Ah, well you're probably right. But I didn't wake you so you could go back to sleep again. Get yourself together, Gin."

"Alright…" He swung his legs over the side of the bed and headed to the bathroom. I turned to leave; I had many things to do before we left. Walking down the hallway, I decided to make a mental list: wake everyone I wanted to take, make sure the gate is stable to pass through, assemble everyone, make sure everyone knew the plan…

"Hey Jai." A large hand came down on my head, breaking my concentration. I looked up at the tall man next to me. With white hair and blue eyes that matched mine, who other could he be but my father?

"Dad, I was trying to concentrate. You know I have a lot to do today."

He simply laughed. "I know, I know. But in my mind you're too busy. You didn't even notice me walk up."

"Ah true. But these are things that have to be done. We have to make sure we understand who's going and who is staying here to protect the royals. And then there's…"

"I get it already. I know that it's important. Maybe you shouldn't take on such responsibility at such a young age, you'll get wrinkles."

I simply glared. "You've had much more stress than me and you're older. I don't see any wrinkles."

"There's always your mother…"

"I don't want to think about that dad!" My mom aged fast and she had wrinkles when she was really young. "I hope Hikaru or Kinryu gets that trait though!"

"Aha! That's my girl!" Hikaru was my older sister. She looked like me except with green eyes instead of my blue ones. Kinryu was my older brother. He also looked like me yet with red eyes. My brother was the captain of the Kido Corps and my sister was lieutenant. I didn't care for either of them much and they had never really cared for me. My dad was the only one that I loved in my family and he had died when I was really young. So when I died and came here, to the Royal Dimension, I had to meet him all over again.

The Royal Dimension was where anyone that died in either the world of the living or the Soul Society that was deemed useful was taken. After I died many others that I had known while I was alive were also brought here. Ukitake, Juushiro, the former captain of the 13th Division died of tuberculosis and was brought here because he was wise and strong while he lived. Ichimaru, Gin was also deemed useful. He may have seemed bad to those who were not watching, yet when it came down to it he had wanted to defeat Aizen from the start. I respected him for that.

"Hey Jai, I'm going to check and make sure the dragons are ready, okay?"

"Alright." Yes, there were dragons. They came in all colors and full-grown, they were the size of an average house. Every squad had a designated a dragon. The captain picked out the dragon. When the squad got a new captain they also got a new dragon. They got to pick out the dragon just after it was born. And then they would help to take care of the dragon and teach it the skills it needed, depending on the squad's job. The captain and the dragon would then form a special bond and that dragon would only listen to its own master. I had my own dragon too. His name was Kurai. He was a big black dragon with fierce pearl white claws and teeth. His job was to protect the royal palace although he is such a sweetheart to anyone that looks past that scary front. So the prince and princess liked to feed him after they were finished studying for the day. They became quite close with Kurai, and with me as well. They even made a special landing point near the top of the palace for him to stay. As they grew older they started to help me take care of him. And just recently, with the permission of the king himself, I let them ride Kurai with me. I offered to let the king try, yet he objected telling me he was far too old for that type of thing.

The king liked me because I was so friendly to his children and to him. I became very close to him as we began to talk more often, usually over tea. I told him how I'd died and left my husband and twin baby boys. When I told him, he wrapped in arm around me and said, "Sometimes life happens, and you may not live on in their lives but your legacy will. So don't think about the 'what ifs' and instead remember what you have here. They might end up coming here someday anyway."

The prince and the princess were another story when it came to relationships. The princess, Akemi, was quiet and shy and doesn't ever talk too much. Though lately I found out that she could sing and have been pushing her to show her full potential. The prince, Daisuke, was strong and bold, truly the heir of the land. He always told me how he wanted a dragon like Kurai when he became king. I keep reminding him that the dragons are for the captains of the royal squad and he keeps reminding me that he will one day, become a captain.

Leaning forward so that my palms were resting on the railing, I looked out over the land. The floating mountains of land over the wide-spread ocean were quite the view. But then I remembered I had things to do, and if these things were not done, there wouldn't be this nice view. So I continued on my journey to wake everyone.


End file.
